WE'RE AT EXMOUTH

SUNDAY 25TH AUGUST   -   We left Quobba Blowholes at 9am for our next destination 300 kilometres further north to Exmouth.  We said goodbye to our friends Bob, Bev and their gorgeous Jack Russell dog Jacky and hope to catch up with them again somewhere in WA next year.  It was a beautiful day.  Daniel and Bob had left before us to get to the caravan park at Exmouth and be set up by the time we arrived.   Going past Coral Bay, we noticed lots of termite nests on either side of the road.  They were all different sizes and shape and looked liked monsters from a Dr. Who set or alien movie.  Just in case you didn’t by some chance notice them, there was a big sign further along the road advising you of “Termite Nests” with an arrow pointing to where you could see them!!!

As we came closer to Exmouth we had to stop the car for 3 scatty emus running across the road.  Apparently there are lots of emus here.

DADDY EMU AND HIS CUTE CHICKS - WE HAD TO WAIT FOR THEM TO CROSS THE ROAD

We arrived at Ningaloo Caravan Holiday Resort at 1pm and found Daniel and Bob had just finished setting up (good timing).   We were a day earlier than booked and they managed to fit us into the overflow dog area until our spot was vacant the following day which was ok by us.  We were just glad they could fit us in.  The caravan park had its own day spa/massage salon at the front and an Italian restaurant called Pinocchio’s which we were told was very good.  There was a huge resort pool that looked very inviting besides the restaurant.  It was quite a big park and the staff were very friendly and helpful.  There were gas bbqs and a covered eating area with wooden tables and chairs and 2 laundries and facilities blocks in the park.  It was a 5 minute walk to the local shops and was opposite the Tourist Information Centre and grassed ovals for dog exercising.  It was definitely in a good convenient location, but was pretty pricey at $48 a night – our most expensive stay yet gulp!!!  

Daniel and Bob were keen to get out on the boat the following day and spent time setting all the rods and equipment up as they wanted to be on the water by 7am.  We had bbq steak and vegetables for dinner and sat at the bbq tables.  Many people had been staying there for 3-4 months and were heading back down south.  All the people we met were very friendly and told us some good spots to visit on our way up.  95% of people we’ve met are heading south again now as they go north from May to September to escape Perth’s cold weather. We’re definitely in the minority heading north as it’s getting considerably hotter up north now.

Exmouth is known as the Gateway to the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area and is a very popular spot for fishing, diving with the whale sharks, snorkelling and scenic flights.  The Ningaloo Reef stretches for 260 kilometres south to Coral Bay.  It was a popular area with the pearl luggers from Broome at one time.  During WWII, a secret base was established called “Operation Potshot”.

In 1967 the Naval Communication Centre was built at Exmouth which was a radio relay station passing messages between Australia and US command centres, submarines and surface ships.  The township developed around the Harold E. Holt Naval Communication Centre.

Exmouth is 1,270 kilometres north from Perth and has a population of 2,500.  It has 350 days of sunshine every year. It was badly damaged by Cyclone Vance in March 1999.

MONDAY 26TH AUGUST  -  Richard didn’t go out on the boat today as we had to move our van onto our designated site when it was vacant and had been mowed.  We took Sally to the local beach for a run around which was really long and a popular 4WD beach.

Once we had set up we went for a drive to Bundegi Beach, 12 kilometres from town, and the start of the Ningaloo Reef Marine Park and boat ramp.  The glass bottom boat departs from there.  We went for a drive along Yardie Creek Road, past The Lighthouse Caravan Park and up to Vlamingh Head Lighthouse, which offered panoramic views of exquisite turquoise surfing beaches.  There are still some original sandbags from WWII at the top of the lighthouse and the anchor from the shipwreck SS Mildura in 1907.  The lighthouse celebrated its centenary on 10^th December 2012.

From the lighthouse, we drove further along the road to Jurabi Turtle Centre and learnt some amazing turtle facts – once the eggs are laid, the mothers go off and leave the eggs to hatch alone.  Of the 1,000 baby turtles hatched, only one or two will return to nest there as a 20 year old adult.  Most of them perish before they even reach the ocean.  Those that do make it to water are usually taken for food by either foxes or seagulls.  The odds are really stacked against them from the outset.  There are three threatened varieties of turtles along this coastline, the Green Turtle, the Loggerhead and the Hawksbill.  There are six varieties of turtles in Australia.

When we got back to the caravan park, Daniel and Bob couldn’t wait to tell us about their “catch of the day”  - two 20 kilo mackerel.  They were both tired but had had a fantastic day out on the water.  Naturally enough, we had fresh bbq fish for dinner that night and it was sensational.

TUESDAY 27TH AUGUST   -   Richard was up at 5.30 am ready for another big day on the ocean.  They set off from Tantabiddi Boat Ramp and out past the Reef.  They saw lots of turtles, dolphins and whales along the way, with one whale did a tail flip and rocked the boat badly.  They caught more mackerel but lost half of one to a shark that decided he wanted it for lunch as they were reeling it in. Bob’s fish freezer was filling up quicker than he expected.  He comes to Exmouth a few times each year and sometimes fishes for 4-5 days without catching anything.

ACTION SHOTS FROM DANIEL'S GO-PRO 

WEDNESDAY 28TH AUGUST  -   Another big fishing day , resulting in fresh tuna for dinner, yummy.

THURSDAY 29TH AUGUST   -    Bob dog sat Sally for the day as we went on Alek & Gina’s Glass Bottom Boat.    We met at Tantabiddi Boat Ramp at 9am for an hour long trip over the Coral Sanctuary   Zone.  It was a very good trip, with no minimum numbers, as Alek loves what he does so much that he will even go out with one person aboard.    He’s very passionate about what he does, but also made the trip very enjoyable and funny.  He’s been operating the tour for over 10 years and was full of knowledge.  He also does under-water photography and surfs every day after his trips have finished.   There was also a 2 ½ hour snorkelling trip.  The tide was very low the day we went out and we got a really good close up view of all the different corals and fish. We saw a few turtles and lots of Parrot Fish and the hour went so fast.  We really enjoyed the trip.

After the Glass Bottom Boat Trip, we went to Cape Range National Park.  It was $11 per car per day.  There were some spectacular limestone gorges and deep canyons and 50 kilometres of pristine beaches.  Cape Range National Park covers 50,581 hectares. We stopped off at most of the beaches along the way, Mangrove Bay, Needs Camp, T- Bone Bay and Turquoise Bay,  with superbly clear turquoise water, ideal for snorkelling.  We went to Yardie Creek which is as far as you can drive on sealed road without going through water in a 4WD.  We had a picnic lunch under a shady tree and went for a walk right along the top of the Creek, looking down into the gorge.  There was a boat trip up the gorge, but we decided to walk instead.   There are lots of camping spots available at each turnoff and most of them were quite full.  Unfortunately you can’t camp there with dogs, so we just had to enjoy the beauty of the place in a day trip.

YARDIE CREEK GORGE

TURQUOISE BAY (APTLY NAMED)

When we got back to the caravan, exhausted from our very enjoyable day out, Bob had a bbq steak dinner organised which was very welcome.

FRIDAY 30TH, SATURDAY 31ST AND SUNDAY 1^ST SEPTEMBER   -  Weather and wind conditions were good, so the eager anglers spent the three days out on the water.  They came back with their 20 kilo of fillets per person quota and were very happy.  They even got back in time for a Father’s Day bacon and egg brunchwhich I was very happy about.  The next few days were forecast to be quite windy out to sea and as everyone had their quota, Bob and Daniel decided to head back to Perth earlier than planned.  Daniel had lots of packing to do as he was moving into his own house the following week and was anxious to get back to sort everything out.   It had been really great seeing them again.  We’ll catch up with them when we head down to Perth for Christmas.

MONDAY 2ND SETEMBER   -   Daniel and Bob left at 4am for the very long drive back to Perth.  They got back at 8pm that night.

We met up with our neighbours Marion and Peter and their Sheepdog Bing (named after Bing Crosby).  They were lovely people and Bing brought back many happy memories of our Sheepdog Dougal that we had many years ago.  Oddly enough Marion and Peter had also had another Sheepdog called Dougal (from the Magic Roundabout programme in England – same as ours).  We got out our Dougal photos to show them and they said they were pretty much identical and the likeness was uncanny.  They were heading south the following day to Coral Bay.   We had a lovely happy hour with them and our neighbours Val and Barry.

I'M DOG SITTING SHEEPDOG BING

WEDNESDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER   -   We went for a drive with Val and Barry to Shothole Canyon and Charles Knife Canyon.  The scenery was breath-taking with deep gorges, high grassy cliffs and varied and colourful rock layers .  Shothole Canyon was 14 kilometres south from Exmouth.  It was named after the shot holes from seismographic explosions during oil searches in the 1950’s.  The gravel road into the canyon was pretty rugged and very slow and precarious at times, but well worth the trip.  It was recommended for only 4WD vehicles.  We did see some 2WD cars but they didn’t make it too far into the canyon.  At the end of the 12 kilometre drive through the canyon there were steps leading to a lookout over the entire gorge which was stunning.  There was a picnic table and toilet, so we had our morning cuppa there before carrying on further to Charles Knife Canyon.  Charles Knife Canyon was 21 kilometres south from Exmouth and was mainly gravel road which was much better to drive through.  It reminded me of the Prairies in Arizona – very bleak, colourful, deep and rugged.  We stopped at the many lookouts and couldn’t believe just how stunning each one was and were so glad we’d had the opportunity to visit these amazing gorges.  We had a picnic lunch at Thomas Carter Lookout and slowly came back onto the main road.  To finish a lovely day out we stopped at Pebbly Beach to give Sally and Anje (Val and Barry’s schnauzer) a run on the beach which they thoroughly enjoyed.

CHARLES KNIFE GORGE

SHOTHOLE CANYON

FRIDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER   -   Val and Barry left Exmouth going south to Coral Bay.  We said we’d drive down to see them and have lunch the next day as we didn’t stop at Coral Bay on our way up to Exmouth. 

We had dinner at Pinocchio’s Restaurant at the front of the caravan park.   It looked so beautiful at night with fairy lights underneath the balcony and around the verandah.  It was decorated with thick ropes wound through the balcony and lights in plastic tubes wrapped around the ropes.  There were ocean theme tables and chairs overlooking the pool which had an illuminated reef feature wall facing the restaurant. It was a very busy place and the service was terrific.  We had mozzarella/oregano pizza for entrée which was massive.  The mains were very large serves too.  All the pastas were home-made and the restaurant had won many awards.  I had spinach pasta with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and zucchini in a creamy garlic/chilli sauce.  It was divine.  Richard had chicken pasta in a rich tomato sauce.  We had to take half of our meals home in a doggy bag as the serves were huge.  Although we were so full and certainly didn’t need it, we had home –made tiramisu ice cream which was delicious also.   We were very impressed with the restaurant itself, the service and most of all the food.  Everyone’s servings were HUGE.

SATURDAY 7 TH SEPTEMBER   -   We drove south to Coral Bay which took us 1 hour and 50 minutes and met up with Val and Barry.  We had a drive around the harbour which was busy with glass bottom boat tours, fishing boats and scenic planes flying overhead.  The water was so clear and turquoise.  Coral Bay was a small area with two caravan parks – only one that takes dogs.  All the sites were taken and quite squashy.  It was a busy place with people swimming and snorkelling in the ocean in front of the caravan parks.  Parking was pretty hard as the streets were narrow and full of parked caravans and motor homes.  They really need some extra parking for day visitors.  We went for a drive to Mauds Landing with a beautiful fishing beach at the end of the road, then we came back to a park overlooking the main beach and had a picnic lunch with Val and Barry.  It was good to see them again.   They are now on their way back home to Victoria and hope to take off again early next year.  It was lovely to see them again as we’d had many happy hours with them in Exmouth and had all got on well, including our two dogs.

SUNDAY 8TH SEPTEMBER   -   We had a big clean up /sort out day, washing the car, caravan,  curtains and windows in the van, sorting out the back of the car and under the bed, doing all the washing and shopping as we were leaving Exmouth the next day.

We really enjoyed our stay in Exmouth and met some lovely people.  The fortnight flew by and was over too quickly.

NEXT WEEK:   We will be continuing our journey further north to cleaverville, a beach bush camping area 30 kilometres outside of Karratha.